The Deerslayer

The Deerslayer is the first of the Leatherstocking Tales of James Fenimore Cooper. Here we meet Natty Bumppo as a young man living in upstate New York in the early 1740s. The action begins as Bumppo, called "Deerslayer", and his friend Hurry Harry approach Lake Glimmerglass, or Oswego, where the trapper Thomas Hutter lives with his daughters, the beautiful Judith and the feeble-minded Hetty. Hutter's floating log fort is attacked by Iroquois Indians, and the two frontiersmen join in the fight.

Le Pere Goriot

Honoré de Balzac uses his classic style of detail to describe a most controversial setting in his novel Le Pere Goriot. The story takes place in Paris just after the fall of Napoleon in 1819. The story focuses on three characters, Rastignac, a student who wants to try and make it big in the capital, Vautrin, an interesting and funny character who is also quite mysterious, and the main character, Goriot, that carries a heavy burden that only a loving parent would endure.

The Three Musketeers

This historical romance, perhaps the greatest cloak-and-sword story ever, relates the adventures of four fictional swashbuckling heroes who served the French kings Louis XIII and Louis XIV. When the dashing young D'Artagnon arrives in Paris from Gascony, he becomes embroiled in three duels with the Three Musketeers: Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. But when he proves himself by fighting not against, but with, the Three Musketeers, they form a quick and lasting friendship.

The Talisman

The Talisman revolves around the Third Crusader's camp in the Holy Land whereby there exists a truce between the Christians and the Muslims. The camp, which is led by King Richard I of England (the Lion-heart) who is grievously ill, is being torn apart by tensions between rival leaders.

Utilitarianism

Utilitarianism is a book released in 1863 by John Stuart Mill to provide the support for the value of utilitarianism as a moral theory and to respond to misconceptions about it. =The book consists of five chapters; the introduction to the essay, the definition of utilitarianism and its common criticisms, the rewards it can offer the methods of proving its validity and in the final chapter looks at the connection between justice and utility and argues that happiness is the foundation of justice.

The Last Trail

The American Revolution is over, but the violence continues in the Ohio Valley. Jonathan Zane and Lewis Wetzel face constant action, trying turn the tide. But just when the beautiful Betty Sheppard has convinced Jonathan to give up his lonely war, she is captured, and taken into the unknown wilderness. Jonathan and Lewis set out on their last desperate journey to save her.

The Legends of King Arthur and His Knights

King Arthur was a legendary British leader of the late fifth and early sixth century who, according to the medieval histories and romances, led the defense of the Romano-Celtic British against the Saxon invaders in the early sixth century. This book gives an account of the life of this great legend of all times.

Beowulf

In Denmark, a very prosperous and popular ruler, King Hrothgar, has built a large mead hall and encouraged all of his soldiers to be jubilant and merry. The commotion from the festivities has greatly upset a horrible demon, Grendel, who lives in the swamp. Every night the demon terrorizes the community forcing the Danes to suffer at the hand of the beast for many years until a young Geatish warrior, Beowulf, hears of the plight King Hrothgar has endured.

Ivanhoe

Ivanhoe is the perfect novel for any listener who loves an action-packed adventure based on the mythology and legends of Medieval times in England. Set in the 12th century, Ivanhoe is the story of a young man who joins up with Richard the Lion Hearted during a dark time where England is split between the Normans and the Saxons, pitting friends and family against each other through the conquering of land and the changing seats of the Royal Family.

Hamlet, Prince of Denmark

The young Danish Prince, Hamlet, is vexed by a trip home to Denmark from school in Germany, to attend his father, the king's funeral. Upon arriving at home, Hamlet has discovered that his mother has already become married to the former King's brother, Hamlet's uncle. What's more, the man has declared himself to be King of Denmark even though Hamlet was the true and rightful heir. Hamlet is enraged by this deception, and immediately suspects foul play in his father's murder.

The Age of Reason

The Age of Reason is formed of two parts. The first, written in 1793 in France during the revolution, is a criticism of not just the Christian church, although it is primarily focused on Christian theology, but as a rejection of all forms of organized religion, including Judaism and Islam. However, Paine's position is not one of atheism, and he begins the book with a declaration of faith in one god.

The Chimes

A poverty stricken old man, Toby "Trotty" Veck, who does odd messenger jobs for cash is in wonder at the cruelty and heartlessness of the world. He contemplates whether people are good or bad and through a series of events with a prostitute and her abusive pimp, corrupt politicians, purse thieves, and a mother who commits suicide after killing her child, he sees that people are indeed vile and evil beings who must be born that way to be so awful.

Uncle Tom's Cabin

Uncle Tom's Cabin opens with a Kentucky farmer named Arthur Shelby facing the loss of his farm because of debts. Even though he and his wife, Emily Shelby, believe that they have a benevolent relationship with their slaves, Shelby decides to raise the needed funds by selling two of them - Uncle Tom, a middle-aged man with a wife and children, and Harry, the son of Emily Shelby's maid Eliza - to a slave trader.

Riders of the Purple Sage

It's 1871 in the contented Mormon town of Cottonwoods, Utah, and Elder Tull wants to marry wealthy rancher Jane Withersteen so desperately that he's willing to use the water supply - the precious lifeblood of the land - to force her hand. But that was before a mysterious, lone gunman called Lassiter showed up...

A Tale of Two Cities [Tantor]

A Tale of Two Cities is one of Charles Dickens's most exciting novels. Set against the backdrop of the French Revolution, it tells the story of a family threatened by the terrible events of the past. Doctor Manette was wrongly imprisoned in the Bastille for 18 years without trial by the aristocratic authorities.

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ

A classic of faith, fortitude, and inspiration, this faithful New Testament tale combines the events of the life of Jesus with grand historical spectacle in the exciting story of Judah of the House of Hur, a man who finds extraordinary redemption for himself and his family. Judah Ben-Hur lives as a rich Jewish prince and merchant in Jerusalem at the beginning of the first century. His old friend, Messala, arrives as commanding officer of the Roman legions.

The Deerslayer

Natty Bumppo , one of the greatest heroes in American literature, is the rugged frontiersman of James Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales, a series of five novels that includes The Last of the Mohicans and The Deerslayer. Although it was the final volume to be written, The Deerslayer is the first in the chronology of Natty Bumppo’s life, depicting the character as a young man testing himself in the wilderness and against enemies for the first time.

On Liberty

On Liberty is a book by John Stuart Mill, one of the most celebrated philosophers on the subject of leadership and governing ideals. The book focuses on Mill's philosophy on utilitarianism which is one of his defining principles. The principles of the book are focused on developing a relationship between the ruling authority and liberty.

Great Expectations

One of the most revered works in English literature, Great Expectations traces the coming of age of a young orphan, Pip, from a boy of shallow aspirations into a man of maturity. From the chilling opening confrontation with an escaped convict to the grand but eerily disheveled estate of bitter old Miss Havisham, all is not what it seems in Dickens’ dark tale of false illusions and thwarted desire.

The Call of the Wild

A bold-spirited dog named Buck is stripped from his comfortable life on a California estate and thrust into the rugged terrain of the Klondike. There he is made a sled dog and battles to become his team's leader and the devoted servant of John Thornton, a man who shows him kindness amid the savage lawlessness of man and beast.

The Man Who Knew Too Much

Chesterton's talent as a mystery writer is displayed in this collection of detective stories, The Man Who Knew Too Much. In each story, the star detective, Horne Fisher, deals with another strange mystery: the vanishing of a priceless coin, the framing of an Irish "prince" freedom fighter, an eccentric rich man dies during an obsessive fishing trip, another vanishing during an ice skate, a statue crushing his own uncle, and a few more.

The Phantom of the Opera

The story begins with an investigation into some strange reports of an "opera ghost", legendary for making the great Paris opera performers ill-at-ease when they sit alone in their dressing rooms. Some allege to have seen the ghost in evening clothes moving about in the shadows. Nothing is done, however, until the disappearance of Christine during her triumphant performance.

A Room with a View

Lucy Honeychurch and her older cousin, Miss Bartlett, tour Italy in the springtime. However, the pension they are staying at may as well be in London. The proprietress speaks a London cockney, the meat is overdone, and their windows give them a view of dirty alleys. However, when the socially clumsy Mr. Emerson offer to exchange rooms, this does anything but remedy the situation. You see, nobody knows what to make of the Emersons. It's so hard to know how to respond to people who speak the truth.

The War of the Worlds

First published by H. G. Wells in 1898, The War of the Worlds is the granddaddy of all alien invasion stories. The novel begins ominously, as the lone voice of a narrator intones, "No one would have believed in the last years of the 19th century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man's."

Publisher's Summary

The Last of the Mohicans has all the elements of a classic frontier adventure: massacres and raids, innocent settlers, hardened soldiers, renegade Indians, and a doomed love affair. It is a memorable portrait of fierce individualism and moral courage. But what draws readers and listeners again and again to this panoramic novel is its deep insight into the symbols of American consciousness.

The French and Indian War adventures of Hawk-eye, a reclusive white woodsman, and his Indian friend Chingachgook have contributed much to the frontier mythos. The story of two men who are at odds with their own people, but reluctantly agree to guide two sisters through hostile Indian country, has found an enduring place in the literary and cultural history of America.

James Fenimore Cooper is widely acknowledged as the pre-eminent American writer of his time. The Last of the Mohicans is one of his most popular and critically acclaimed works. Larry McKeever's animated and skillful narration intensifies the novel's romance and drama and brings its tragic characters fully to life.

(P)1989 Recorded Books, LLC.

What the Critics Say

"Want to relish your early American history, to thrill again at the suspense of forest dangers, to wonder whether Hawkeye will ever quite forsake the trail for a tender passage of love and domesticity? Then this book is for you." (Chicago Sunday Tribune)

This read a lot fresher than I expected from a book which is now almost 200 years old (although, note that the narrator reads the footnotes without any warning--at first, I thought Cooper must have been post-modern!). The most surprising and intringuing aspect was its temporal scope: the events of all 400 pages (14 hours) occur within just a few days. This means the pace of the story-telling is relaxed, even when the action is not, affording loads of detail and creating very effective suspense (reminiscent of Hemingway's _For Whom the Bell Tolls_). For the most part, this immersion keeps the reader fully interested, but sometimes it becomes tedious, e.g., the Homeric burial rites at the end. The most memorable scenes are those relating the shocking horrors perpetrated by American Natives, dubious tellings which obviously should now be taken with several grains of salt.

An engaging immersion in the French and Indian War, among the savagery of the Indians, caught between the powers of France and England. The story of the Mohican and the Delaware tribes, decimated by more than a century of contact with whites. Interesting characterization of Hawkeye and of his Indian brothers. Even the Huron villain is understandable. Better than any of the movie versions of the story, even though somewhat dated in style. Excellent narration.

Really struggled to get into this book. Seemed long winded and hard to follow at times. Didn't get invested in the characters which is never good. The overall story seemed to be a good one, but I'd have preferred the cliff notes version.

At first I thought I wasn't going to like the narrator. He was very monotonous at first. But then the story deepened and the characters fleshed out and the narration improved. Uncas and Hawkeye were my favorite characters. I need to see the movie now.

I purchased this audio as a 99 cent addon to a free Kindle ebook. i was surprised by the quality of the reader and pleased with the original story of rhe movie I had enjoyed many years ago staring Daniel Day Lewis. The portraits of the inhabitants of the American wild was pleasing and the action of the story did not disappoint.

Coopers story telling is unique, for a non academic read you have to concentrate. his vocabulary and style is from a different age. only reason I didn't give 5 stars is I just can't get past males doing feminine parts, but did other characters great.

the book is so much worse then the movie. Even the movie was boring at the beginning so I gave it a chance. It was hard to follow. I had to go to wikipedia to read about the plot and after listening for 3 hours I didn't remember anything that went on. I actually wanted to punch the author when I was reading it, but I guess the narrator was reading the footnotes at the same time. I like to get lost in the book but the author and narrator take you outside the book. Like the 1st scene with the mohicans the narrator says I will tell translate the language of the mohicans into english so you can understand, then kept referring to hawkeye as the white man then the narrator said I will no refer to the white man as hawkeye as he is known. It felt like I was listening to a text book with a little bit of dialogue thrown in, very hard to follow what is going on.

Would you ever listen to anything by James Fenimore Cooper again?

probably not

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Larry McKeever?

not very good narration, no changing of the voices when switching between characters.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Last of the Mohicans?

don't have the narrator read the footnotes, perform don't huff and puff your way through it.

Fantastic story but terribly difficult to listen to. Written in 19c english and therefore very flowery and needs 100% concentration. I didn't finish it.

Brian

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Sara

Llanwrtyd wells, United Kingdom

2/12/09

Overall

"Enjoyable, but not quite there."

I cannot remember ever having said this before, but I thought the film was much better than the book. Invariably, film-makers destroy a good book, which this is, and for those who have read the book prior to watching the film, they are invariably disappointed. Not so in this case.

I felt this book dragged ever so slightly and was trying to look for a direction. There is a very linear plot which bounces along well enough with moments of action and moments of poingnancy. Unfortunately, there is never enough emotion for the reader to get involved in, and as the main (and one-dimensional) character's friends are North American Indians who hardly ever speak, and the main character is himself portrayed with all the depth of a Boys Own Annual hero, the listener feels they are involved in the daydream of the repressed author who has written this book for his own pleasure rather than that of others.

I loved the film, which in my opinion stands alone in it's genre, and commend the scriptwriter and film director for injecting action, passion and character into this enjoyable but average book.

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